Sturgeon fishing 06-04-2012

Catching one of these prehistoric looking fish has been on my list for awhile. We have tried in the past to make the trip with Alan and Nolana, but other things would bump it off the calendar. So we were glad that things worked out this year. Check out the site of our guide Brad Hadfield and notice the picture of the guy at the top of the left margin, it's Alan with an over sized Sturgeon. Alan and Nolana have been out with Brad several times, and once landed a 10-footer.

We met Brad at the dock at 6:30 am and headed out to a spot that had been good for him the day before. After a while other boats (see picture above) started showing up. 

I was the first to hook up, but it came unhooked at the boat. Shortly after I caught this keeper. In order to keep a Sturgeon the length must fall between 41" to 54", this one was 50" and 25 lbs.

Alan brought in the next one. It was 0.25 to 0.50 inches short of being a keeper.

The bait we were using was either bait fish as shown above or shrimp. 

This is how it was rigged up.

White Sturgeon are found along the west coast of North America from the Aleutian Islands to Central California. It is the largest "Freshwater" fish in North America, and is known to reach a maximum size of 1799 lbs and 20 ft. They can live to be over 100 years old. Typically, they reach six feet long around 25 years of age.

Sturgeon have changed very little since they first appeared, over 175 million years ago and thus have the appearance of a very ancient fish. 

Sturgeon have no scales, instead they have large bony scutes that serve as a form of armor. 

Sturgeon live and feed on the bottom of rivers and bays. 

 They come equipped with a super sucker.

Next it was Nolana's turn, a nice one just a little short of being a keeper. 

I picked up another keeper, this time 51" and 28 lbs.

Both of the fish I caught had been tagged. The fish and game officer at the dock took the tags and said they would send me a little history about the fish I had caught. UPDATE, I received the information on the fish: They were originally tagged with in a couple days of each other, and almost exactly two years from the time I caught them. They had each grow about eight inches, and were tagged approximately five mile from where I caught them.   

These little Bullheads kept trying to steal our bait. 

Alan displaying this Sturgeon and one of the one-thousand origami (paper) cranes he folded in honor of people with cancer.

Grandpa hooks into one, but didn't care to get a picture so it was unhooked and released at the boat. 

Coming back into the dock.

One last picture before having the fish filleted.

This is Andy and his son Tyler, rumor is that they are the best at filleting. If you are interested in seeing how Andy fillets a Sturgeon click HERE 

We had a fun day fishing with Brad and would recommend him. I would like to do it again and go after over sized (over 54 inches) Sturgeon, or just a day of catch and release when the fishing is fast.

Check out the Video (Best viewed Full Screen)

Bolivar Peninsula 10-14-2011

In the afternoon on the 14th we took the ferry from Galveston over to the Bolivar Peninsula to do some surf fishing.

Brad and Diane 

Diane with a fish on. 

Diane's fish, a Croaker. 

Alan caught these fish in his casting net. The bigger fish a Croaker was probably chasing the smaller Mullet when the net came over them.

Linda with a fish on.

Linda's fish a Whiting.

Nolana had one on that got off.

The next few picture show how to throw a casting net. Luckily I did it right this time, with a nice open circle landing on the water. It didn't always work out that well.

Some bait fish (Menhaden) caught with the casting net.

Gulf of Mexico Surf Fishing 10-10-2011

Sunday night it rained hard, but when we got up Monday morning the weather looked good, so we desided to head to the beach. On the way there we stopped to pick up some bait (shrimp and squid). The lady that sold it to us asked if the water had cleared up enough to fish. We said we were from out of town and didn't know. All she said then was "oh so you don't know better". We found the water to be off color, but we fished anyway, caught some, and had lots of fun.

Brad was good enough to bring all the fishing gear we needed for the trip.

Alan brought along a throw net, to try to catch some live bait.

This was his first time doing this, but he did catch some Mullet for bait.

Brad caught a nice croaker.

Alan catches a Croaker.

Linda has a fish on, but it gets off.

Nolana with a fish on that gets off.

This is what I learned about surf fishing. First you select a nice tasty bait like squid. Put it on your hook.

Wade out in the surf, get the weight and bait behind you.

And let it fly.

Walk back in, letting line out as you do.

Put the rod in the rod holder, and wait for a bite.

Reel it in.

Take a couple pictures.

And let it go.

Brad caught the fish of the day a Black Drum.